Babar Azam - Pakistan's next big hope

The high profile retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan has seen Pakistan going in search of players who will fill those big boots. Their former Under-19 captain Babar Azam seems to be someone they will heavily rely on in the years to come.

Babar hails from a cricketing family in Lahore. He is the first cousin of Akmal brothers. The 22-year-old was destined for greatness from a young age. He represented Pakistan at the Under-15 level and went onto play in two Under-19 World Cups in 2010 and 2012. He was Pakistan's captain and the highest run scorer in 2012.

Before the age of 23, he has already compiled six ODI centuries, with the last one coming in Dubai in the first ODI against Sri Lanka on Friday (October 13). His 103 came as some relief for the hosts as they overcame Sri Lanka by 83 runs after losing the Test series.

On Friday, Babar did what was expected of a number three batsman batting through the innings having come in in the fourth over. With Babar holding one end up, it allowed others to push the score. Fakhar Zaman smashed 43 off 43 deliveries as they added 64 runs for the second wicket and then a 139-run stand followed for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Malik, who hit 81 off 61 balls.

Babar was steady. His 103 came off 131 deliveries and contained just five boundaries. Not that he is a one dimensional player. His ODI strike rate of 88 and T20I strike rate of 125 suggests that he can raise the tempo. But in the absence of the injured Azhar Ali what Pakistan wanted was Babar to anchor the innings. He did well helping them to post 292.

Babar made his ODI debut soon after his stint with the Under-19 team and hit a purple patch last year when he hit three consecutive centuries against Windies in UAE. Six centuries at 22 years of age is a pretty impressive to have. What Babar has achieved before his 23rd birthday, Shahid Afridi managed in his whole career, across 398 ODIs, that spanned for 19 years after he debuted at the age of 16.

Looking at the other Pakistani greats also reflects the enormity of what Babar has achieved. Inzamam-ul-Haq; the only Pakistani to score more than 10,000 ODI runs, had only two centuries before the age of 23. The great Javed Miandad had none at that stage while Younis Khan hadn't even made his debut.

If the early promise is anything to go by, you can be assured that we are seeing the next big thing of Pakistani cricket. After 31 ODIs, he averages 53 with six hundreds and six fifties. Former Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik acknowledged the team heavily relies on Babar to get the job done.

"He is our next big hope. His career has been sensational so far. He is an exceptional talent and he is improving day by day. I think PCB, the selectors and team management should back him. We could end up producing a great Pakistani cricketer," Malik said.

However, Babar has failed to replicate his ODI heroics in the longer format of the game. In the recent series against Sri Lanka, he was thrice dismissed by the spinners. He managed only 39 runs in the series with just one double digit score. After 11 Tests, he is yet to make a hundred and averages 23 and a perceived weakness against spinners is spoken of.

"It's a bit of a worry. I've got a lot of faith in Babar because I think he is a very very good player. But his white-ball form though needs to start transforming into his Test form. He's had a very slow start to his Test career, for a player of his ability. I'm still confident that he will come through and that he will be a very good player for Pakistan going forward. We've just got to guide him through as best we can," Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had said.

After the tough times he had in the Test series, the way he played in the first ODI speaks volumes of his character. Babar has got plenty of time at hand and with more exposure he should click in Test cricket too. He certainly is Pakistan's next big hope.